FANTASY BASEBALL

{"playerId":3559,"percentChange":-0.1,"averageDraftPosition":7.7,"percentOwned":99.1,"playerRaterSEASON":6.6,"playerRater7DAY":0.9,"mostRecentNews":{"news":"Machado went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer in Thursday's 3-1 win over the Rays.","spin":"Machado's two-run shot in the first inning made it 2-0 before Rays starter Matt Andriese could record a single out. The star slugger was almost kept out of the lineup due to an illness, but manager Buck Showalter's decision to dress Machado paid off big time in what ended as a two-run victory. While a slow start had the infielder slashing just .238/.306/.426 back on July 29, Machado's season line is up to .264/.318/.487 now.","date":"Thu Sep 21"},"fullName":"Manny Machado","seasonOutlook":{"outlook":"Where did the steals go?! A summer after he swiped a career-best 20 bags, at the time tripling his big-league total, Machado was held without a single steal in 2016. No matter, as he was an exceptional performer in practically every other facet of the game, and fantasy owners gained an unexpected piece of flexibility when Machado appeared in 45 games at shortstop -- that thanks to an injury to J.J. Hardy -- to capture eligibility there for 2017. Machado was one of eight players to hit 35 or more home runs in each of the past two seasons, and he's one of only six in history to do it in both his ages 22 and 23 seasons. He has the prime of his career ahead of him, showed enough growth in the quality of his contact last season that further improvement is a reasonable assumption, and he has shown us in the past that he's capable of stealing a base when he wants to. Machado is a compelling a first-round candidate in any format.","seasonId":2017,"date":"Tue Feb 21"},"playerRater30DAY":3.6,"playerRater15DAY":-1.8,"positionRank":4}